Saint-Étienne (France) (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal open their Euro 2016 campaign on Tuesday eager to avoid slipping-up against minnows Iceland and aiming to emulate their run to the European Championship semi-finals four years ago. Portugal lost to eventual winners Spain on penalties in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 and have arrived in France determined […]

Bordeaux (AFP) – Seen by many as dangerous dark horses at Euro 2016, Austria have an early chance to underline their credentials when they begin their Group F campaign against old rivals Hungary on Tuesday. The game in Bordeaux will be the 138th meeting of the two nations, but their first encounter in a decade […]

Paris (AFP) – Defending champions Spain kick off their Euro 2016 against the Czech Republic on Monday, bidding for a third straight European crown, under a sex scandal cloud. Accusations against Manchester United shot-stopper David De Gea have thrown Spain's preparations into turmoil as they prepare to face the Czechs in Toulouse in Group D. […]

East Rutherford (United States) (AFP) – Ecuador set up a Copa America Centenario quarter-final showdown with the United States after romping to a comfortable 4-0 win over Haiti. Goals from Enner Valencia, Jaime Ayovi, Christian Noboa and Antonio Valencia on Sunday completed a routine win for Ecuador who are now assured of finishing in second […]

Paris (AFP) – Bastian Schweinsteiger had time for three touches of the ball and scored with one as world champions Germany started their European Championship campaign with a 2-0 win over Ukraine. The 31-year-old Manchester United midfielder came on in the 90th minute and quickly put away a perfect pass from Mesut Ozil for the […]

Lille (France) (AFP) – Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger came off the bench to score his first international goal in five years and seal a perfect start to the world champions' Euro 2016 campaign with a 2-0 win over Ukraine. Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi powered home the opener from Toni Kroos's free-kick after just 19 minutes […]

Lille (France) (AFP) – Ukraine boss Mykhaylo Fomenko hailed world champions Germany as a "machine" after his side lost their first Euro 2016 game 2-0 on Sunday. "Germany are a machine, their team is full of great players," said Fomenko. "There are no surprises with this team. A machine is a machine." Shkodran Mustafi's early […]

Lille (France) (AFP) – Germany coach Joachim Loew hailed defender Jerome Boateng as "a good neighbour" for his spectacular goalline clearance during the world champions' 2-0 win over Ukraine to open their Euro 2016 campaign. Boateng, whose father is Ghanaian, was the target of right-wing German politician Alexander Gauland this month, who claimed Germans would […]

Paris (AFP) – Belgium coach Marc Wilmots and Republic of Ireland counterpart Martin O'Neill expressed horror Sunday at the hooligan "scourge" that has cast a shadow over Euro 2016. Pitched battles between Russian and England fans before their countries' 1-1 draw on in Marseille Saturday has seen both teams warned about the future conduct of […]

An viewing average of 4.4 million people watched the USA's 1-0 victory against Paraguay on US television Saturday night, in a game that sent the US Men's National Team into the quarter-finals. The USA-Paraguay game, which was televised live across Univision, Univision Deportes and FOX Sports 1, was shown from 7-9pm ET. The game averaged […]

Philadelphia (AFP) – Paraguay coach Ramon Diaz resigned Sunday following his team's first-round exit at the Copa America Centenario, the Paraguay Football Federation said. "Following Paraguay's elimination from the Copa America Centenario, Ramon Diaz has confirmed his resignation as national team coach with immediate effect," the federation said in a statement. Paraguay were dumped out […]

Lille (France) (AFP) – Bastian Schweinsteiger said that running to celebrate his injury-time goal had left him out of breath as he hailed Germany's 2-0 win over Ukraine that opened their Euro 2016 campaign on Sunday. The German skipper came on in the 90th minute in Lille and scored the deciding goal moments later, perfectly […]

Moscow (AFP) – Russia are just 29th in the world football rankings but fighting for top spot in the hooligan stakes thanks to the efforts of characters like Vladimir, a Moscow public relations manager who considers violence a sport. Vladimir, who is married with two children, returned Sunday from the latest battleground at the European […]

Paris (AFP) – UEFA on Sunday threatened to kick Russia and England out of the European Championship finals over fan violence but admitted there were stadium security flaws. German hooligans became the latest to join street battles that have marred Euro 2016. The French government gave police chiefs new powers to ban alcohol sales and […]

Against Paraguay, when Jürgen Klinsmann announced the same lineup for the third consecutive match, many people were bewildered. It was the first time in his history as US manager that he'd done so, and the starting XI from the previous two games had produced mixed results. Sure, they'd blown out Costa Rica, but there were […]